Overview
- At a Cabinet meeting, President Lee said the temporary exemption will lapse on May 9 and stressed it is not a new tax increase.
- He vowed to ease excessive capital inflows into real estate, citing Japan’s prolonged stagnation as a warning about unchecked asset bubbles.
- Officials said the government is weighing measures that include boosting housing supply in the Seoul area to cool an overheated market.
- Lee highlighted a recent stock rally as a sign of market normalization and pledged regulatory overhauls to channel capital into more productive financing.
- Current property gains are taxed at 6–45 percent, with extra surcharges of 20 percentage points for two-home owners in speculative zones and 30 points for three homes, and JoongAng Daily reported effective rates for some sellers can reach about 82.5 percent.